Evaluating the impact of an open-data-based lessons and course-based research experiences on student knowledge, skills, and attitudes

Allen Institute, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by studying learning outcomes when students use open data and scientific tools in novel curriculum units that teach mitosis, a foundational concept in biology. Prior studies have indicated that course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and other forms of active learning led to deeper understanding of scientific topics, improved retention in science careers, and other positive outcomes for students. However, active learning and CUREs are challenging to scale, and the latter usually require access to lab facilities and materials which are often inequitably distributed. To address these challenges, this project will develop active learning-based and CURE curriculum units that use free, online open data and tools from the Allen Institute. In addition, the project team will develop a standardized concept inventory for measuring student understanding of mitosis, investigate the impacts of those curricula on student learning outcomes using the concept inventory, and ultimately release both the teaching tools as well as the research results. The key innovations of this project will be a) to advance understanding of the impacts of open data as a teaching tool on student attitudes and knowledge, b) to create and release validated open-data-based lessons, and c) to develop and release a validated concept inventory (CI) on mitosis, a tool used to capture student understanding of core concepts on a topic. If use of open data for active learning or a full virtual CURE generates significant learning and attitude benefits for students, this indicates that open data may be used in teaching settings to lower some of the social and economic barriers to entry and retention in scientific research and increase access to impactful experiences in the field. The findings from this study would inform teaching across topics on the impact of open data on student scientific thinking, engagement with learning, retention of knowledge, and persistence in the field. The goal of this project is to systematically evaluate the impact of using open data and research tools in a classroom setting on student understanding, scientific thinking, confidence, and attitudes, specifically in the context of learning the biological process of mitosis. The open data and tools used in this project have been previously produced by the Allen Institute for Cell Science, a division of the Allen Institute, and include thousands of high-resolution, fluorescently-tagged 3D images of live human cells with accompanying visualization and quantitative analysis tools. This study would extend the validated use cases and impact of these open resources into the world of education. This project will produce two primary products: a) two curricula on mitosis using open data for active learning or for a CURE, which will also be released as open educational resources (OERs) at the end of the study, and b) a validated CI on mitosis. These products will be used to quantify the impact of these variant curricula on students’ scientific thinking skills, knowledge of mitosis (measured with the CI), confidence in their own knowledge, interest in continuing study, and other attitudinal outcomes. This study aims to extend the benefits of CUREs to settings where a laboratory-based option is not available, and to provide new tools and options to educators interested in implementing CUREs. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.